This invention relates to bow guides for musical instruments of the violin family.
It is very difficult for beginners learning to play the violin and other instruments in the violin family to keep the bow perpendicular to the strings and at the proper distance from the bridge of the instrument. Very often, the beginner inadvertently moves the bow longitudinally, (that is in the direction of the strings of the instrument) either toward the bridge of the instrument, or more likely toward the scroll, causing the instrument to emit undesirable sound. Failure to maintain the bow perpendicular to the string also results in a failure to maintain consistency in the tones produced. Even advanced players have trouble maintaining the bow in a perpendicular relationship to the strings.
These problems have been long recognized by violin instructors, and a number of different training aids have been developed. For example, a training device comprising a simulated violin body having a transverse groove for guiding an articifical bow is described in U.S. Pat. No. 88,423, dated Mar. 30, 1869. A similar instruction device having rotatable groove-providing means and a perpendicularly indicator is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,239,579, dated Apr. 22, 1941.
The prior art also contains a number of patents describing "bow guides" which are violin attachments usable during actual playing of the instrument. In general, the purpose of a bow guide is to limit longitudinal bow movement, and, in some cases, to insure perpendicularity of the bow with respect to the strings. U.S. Pat. No. 316,157, dated Apr. 21, 1885 describes a typical bow guide which consists of a stop member adapted to be clamped onto a violin fingerboard by a screw-type clamping means. This bow guide prevents the bow from being moved longitudinally over the fingerboard, but does not prevent movement of the bow toward the bridge. Similar bow guides are described in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 713,171, dated Nov. 11, 1902; 1,228,949, dated June 5, 1917; 1,192,030, dated July 25; 1916; 1,788,700, dated Jan. 13, 1971; 3,107,568, dated Oct. 22, 1963; and 3,169,438, dated Feb. 16, 1965. Some of the device described in these patents provide for a minor longitudinal adjustment of the stop, but none of them limits the movement of the bow toward the bridge, and none of them is of appreciable help in controlling perpendicularity.
Another class of bow guide is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 196,325, dated Oct. 23, 1877, wherein a pair of slotted upright members clamped to the body of the violin insure that the bow is maintained in a perpendicular relationship to the strings, and within a narrow longitudinal range of positions. Similar devices are described in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 243,763, dated July 5, 1881, 1,325,251, dated Dec. 16, 1919; 1,508,830, dated Sept. 16, 1924; 1,603,371, dated Oct. 19, 1926; 1,623,633, dated Apr. 5, 1927; 2,782,670, dated Feb. 26, 1957; 3,306,150, dated Feb. 28, 1967; and 1,562,062, dated Nov. 17, 1925. Another such device is described in German Pat. Nos. 519,204, dated Jan. 26, 1929. The bow guides in these patents limit movement toward the bridge as well as toward the scroll. Again, adjustability, to the extent that it exists in these devices, is very limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,964, dated May 1, 1973 describes a bow position sensor in which an element secured to the end of the fingerboard and extending longitudinally underneath the strings is provided with a series of slots for receiving a pair of sensors which acts a bow guides, and limit movement in both longitudinal directions. The slots limit the sensors to a limited number of discrete positions so that there is no continuous adjustability. The position sensors are not capable of insuring perpendicularity between the bow and the strings.
Nevertheless Pat. No. 28,771, dated Jan. 16, 1933 describes a bow guide with adjustable stops formed of wire. The stops are independently adjustable in the longitudinal direction, and are so configured as to aid substantially in maintaining a perpendicular relationship between the bow and the strings. However, the wire stops are secured to the fingerboard of the instrument by a clamping device which clamps both ends of each wire stop. The clamping device must be loosened on the fingerboard before the wire stops can be adjusted. The clamp extends over the fingerboard and over the strings, making it impossible to finger the strings near the end of the fingerboard to produce very high pitched notes. The wire stops also pose an obstacle to the fingers of the hand holding the bow, and therefore interfere with the full use of the bow hair. This patent is believed to represent the closest prior art.
None of the prior art devices provides for rapid adjustment of the longitudinal range within which the bow can contact the strings and the longitudinal position of said range. Furthermore, none of the bow guides in the prior art provides for such adjustments while providing at the same time for control of perpendicularity between the bow and the strings.
The principal object of this invention is to provide an improved bow guide wherein continuous adjustments (i.e., adjustments not limited to discrete positions) may be rapidly made for controlling the width of the longitudinal range within which the bow can contact the strings, and the longitudinal position of that range, thereby making it possible for the student to isolate and practice any desired range of timbres possible in the distance between the bridge and the fingerboard of the instrument.
Another object of the invention is to provide a rapidly adjustable bow guide which imposes a minimum of interference with the full use of the bow hair and which insures against the possibility of snagging the bow hair on parts of the bow guide.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a rapidly adjustable fingerboard-mounted bow guide which controls perpendicularity between the bow and the strings, and the settings of which are accurately reproducible.
A further object of the invention is to enable the student musician to maintan bow position and perpendicularity artificially so that he can more easily concentrate on bow pressure and speed.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a bow guide in which the range and position of the range can be adjusted and wherein the position of the range can be rapidly adjusted without changing the longitudinal extent of the range.
Other objects will be apparent from the following Detailed Description when read in conjunction with the drawings.
Stated briefly, the bow guide in accordance with the invention comprises first and second stop members adapted to extend laterally over at least part of the strings of the instrument at longitudinally spaced locations to constrain the bow to movements substantially perpendicular to the strings and within a relatively narrow longitudinal range between the bridge and the end of the fingerboard, and means for supporting the first and second stop members from the fingerboard, the supporting means comprising means for firmly gripping the fingerboard, and means frictionally securing the stop members to the gripping means and permitting longitudinal adjustment of the stop members relative to the fingerboard and relative to each other while the gripping means firmly grips the fingerboard.